Although a number of methods exist to recycle plastics, electronics, munitions or propellants, these methods are costly and in some cases create a secondary waste that can be more of a problem than the actual initial material itself. Currently, methods of recycling plastics, electronics, munitions or propellants create greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, as well as, other byproducts such as ammonia and other secondary compounds, which in some cases are more hazardous than the parent material. Further, these processes also produce slag, which currently must be land filled and there is currently no efficient method to recovery heavy metals, such as mercury, or rare earth metals that typically are found in electronics. While these processes work, they require significant energy input or create waste streams that must be disposed of at a cost to the operator and with potential future environmental impact.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved method to economically recycle plastics, electronics, munitions or propellants while recovering the remaining carbon, sulfur and any rare earth or heavy metals.